It’s New Year’s Eve 1981 in New York’s new wavey Lower East Side, and Monica (Martha Plimpton) is having a party – although it’s already 9:00 pm and no one is there, so she stews and hits the champagne (getting funnier as the evening wears on).
But many people are on their way: a pair of punks (Casey Affleck and Guillermo Diaz); moody performance artist Ellie (Janeane Garofalo) breaking up with her brooding boyfriend, Kevin (Paul Rudd); his long-time pal Lucy (Courtney Love) who listens to Kevin whine because she’s secretly nuts about him; two jailbait Long Island high-school girls (Christina Ricci and Gaby Hoffmann) with Noo Yawk accents as thick as their makeup who get lost and stop in at an East Village punk club called Satan’s Pit; a flirty but inept bartender (Ben Affleck) who is trying to pick up two not-so-loyal young gal pals (Angela Featherstone and Nicole Parker); a Scottish painter who’s lousy in bed (Brian McCardie); a vain actor with a pretty face who runs when women say they love him (Jay Mohr); his cute but clumsy date Cindy (Kate Hudson, who strongly resembles her mother, Goldie Hawn); the man-crazed Hillary (Catherine Kellner); and Elvis Costello (playing himself in a brief cameo).
En route, paths cross, gambits misfire, nearly everybody smokes, and they are all looking for love, sex, or both. Dave Chappelle’s philosophising disco cabby becomes the unifying element as he drives the various characters around town.
The party itself is never shown other than in snapshots. It’s the preparations for the event and the aftermath that concern first-time director Risa Bramon Garcia.
It’s not a life-changing experience, but the film faithfully recreates that pre-Reaganomics period in the early 80s when women willingly dressed like Madonna‘s version of a virgin, stereo turntables were more commonplace than condoms, and love and fun – not career and money – were what really mattered.
Monica
Martha Plimpton Lucy
Courtney Love Kevin
Paul Rudd Ellie
Janeane Garofalo Disco Cabbie
Dave Chappelle Tom
Casey Affleck Dave
Guillermo Diaz Val
Christina Ricci Stephie
Gaby Hoffmann Bartender
Ben Affleck Caitlyn
Angela Featherstone Bridget
Nicole Parker Eric
Brian McCardie Jack
Jay Mohr Cindy
Kate Hudson Hillary
Catherine Kellner Cheryl
Jennifer Albano Cheryl’s Friend
Jenni Blong Elvis Costello
Himself French Rocker
Morgan Brown Cynical Bar Patron
Caleb Carr Tiki Sobbing Man
Patrick Frederic Tiki Bartender
David Johansen Restaurant Owner
Kiran Merchant Drag Queen
James Murphy Ace Bar Patron
Patricia Wible
Director
Risa Bramon Garcia
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Monica
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Bridget
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